In Astrakhan, Oleg Shein was fined for quoting Hitler

A regional Duma deputy was found guilty of distributing extremist material for comparing the words of priest Maxim Serpitsky with a quote from Mein Kampf.

On August 5, 2024, the Kirovsky District Court of Astrakhan fined the deputy of the Astrakhan Regional Duma from the party "A Just Russia - Patriots - For Truth", former State Duma deputy Oleg Shein two thousand rubles, finding him guilty under Article 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (dissemination of extremist materials).

The reason was a comment that Shein made on the broadcast “Priest at SVO: “You should pray in war not for yourself, but for others”” - an interview with priest Maxim Serpitsky in the program “Paradigm” on Diana Tevosova’s YouTube channel.

According to Shein, the priest compared foreign workers to worms that a person must get rid of. “This is nothing new,” Shein said on his Telegram channel. “Hitler compared Jews to ‘parasites on the bodies of other peoples,’ which I wrote about, citing Mein Kampf, because if neo-Nazis appear in Russia, it is my duty as a citizen and politician to show what they are and where their roots come from. Then in the comments I wrote: ‘Fascism is like this: a foreigner is always to blame,’ no matter who — a Jew, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Tajik, or Uzbek — and cited statistics on neo-Nazi attacks, saying, ‘This is what Russian nationalism looks like, with the same bestial face as any other.’” The Federal Law on Counteracting Extremist Activity explicitly states that it includes justification or substantiation of racial and national superiority. Not a criticism of fascism. Not an explanation of what it is. Not anti-fascist propaganda, but “justification and substantiation”. But there are no claims against “priest Maxim”. The claims for “dissemination of extremist materials” are against me.”

Let us recall that the law "On Combating Extremist Activity" classifies the works of the leaders of the Third Reich as extremist materials. However, we believe that one should only be prosecuted for quoting these works if the quotation is aimed at promoting Nazism. In our opinion, Shein was fined unlawfully. We also note that persons held liable under Article 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses are deprived of the right to be elected for a one-year term, counted from the moment the decision on the administrative offense is executed.

Sources

• Case card on administrative offence No. 5-1304/2024 // Kirovsky District Court of Astrakhan. 2024. August 5.
• Former State Duma deputy Shein fined for distributing extremist materials // TASS. 2024. August 5.
• Then a denunciation came against me // OVShein. Telegram. 2024. August 5.